Textile cards



@et 2l, 1969 Filed April 20. 1967 ffm R. GREENWOOD ET AL TEXTILE CARDS 3 Sheets-Sheet l I a INVENTRAJ ATTORNEY @et 2l, 1969 Filed April 2o, 19e? R. GREENWOOD ETAL TEXTILE CARDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY 9 @cfm 2l, 1969 R. GREENWOOD ETAL TEXTILE CARDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 20, 1967 3,473,848 TEXTILE CARDS Robert Greenwcod, Whailey, near Blackburn, Donald Britton Harrison, 7Rossendale, and Joseph Robert Morris, Haslingden, England, assignors to 'I`.M.M. (Re- Search) Limited, tbldharn, England, a British company Filed Apr. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 632,263 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Apr. 22, 1966, 17,787/ 66 Int. Cl. Dillg .l/40; 365g 53/26 Cl. 3D2-28 3 Claims ABSTRACT F TIE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for feeding textile fibrous materials to a plurality of cards in series in which each card is fed through a chute and the fibrous materials are delivered to the upper portions of the chutes from an airstream entering at one side of the chute through a relatively large aperture and exiting at the opposite side through a smaller aperture, the sizes and shapes of the apertures being such that the fibres are properly taken down in each chute without the use of detiecting members or other airstrearn directing elements.

The present invention relates to textile cards and is particularly concerned with apparatus for feeding textile fibrous materials to a plurality of cards.

For many years it was common practice in cards for processing cotton and similar materials to feed each card separately with laps of fibrous material prepared on scutchers. 1n more recent years there have been proposals for feeding a plurality of cards from a common source of supply and employing at each card a chute feed to deliver the textile fibrous material in sheet form to the taker-in of the card. It has furthermore been proposed to circulate a fibrous material in an airstream to each of a plurality of such card chutes in turn and the card chutes have been formed as branches from the circulating duct. Difiiculty has been experienced in ensuring that the fibres are taken down into the chutes when required and it has been found necessary to use deflecting members in the airstream to achieve satisfactory results.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an alternative fibre feeding arrangement `for Supplying textile fibrous material in an airstream to a plurality of cards.

According to the present invention, there is provided a feeding arrangement for a series of cards, comprising a card chute for each card for feeding fibrous material to the taker-in in sheet form, and an arrangement of ducts for conveying libtous material in an airstream and comprising a feed duct connected to an inlet opening in the upper portion of the first chute, a connecting duct connecting an outlet opening in the upper portion of each card chute except the last in the series to an inlet opening in the upper portion of the next card chute in the series, and an outlet duct connected to an outlet opening in the upper portion of the last card chute, and means for delivering fibrous material in an airstream to said feed duct, the arrangement being such that fibres conveyed in said airstream pass across the width of the upper portion of each card chute in turn from one side to the other and into the duct leading to the next chute, some fibres falling into the chute to collect therein until the chute is filled up to the level of the connecting duct whereupon all the fibres supplied in the airstream pass across the chute and are conveyed to the next chute.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

3,173,33 Patented Utet. 2l, 1969 FIG. 1 is a rear elevation of a feeding arrangement for a series of cards according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a plan of the feeding arrangement shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional end elevation of a chute for one of the cards shown in FIG. 1, taken on the line III- III in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a detail section of the chute shown in FIG. 3, taken on the line IV--IV in FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 is a detail section of the chute shown in FIG. 3, taken on the line V-V in FIG. 3.

Referring first to FIG. 1, a series of Six cards C1 to C6 are arranged side by side in spaced relation in a single line and each is provided with a chute 11 in which iibrous material fed into the upper part of the chute is compacted for delivery at the bottom of the `chute in sheet form, where it is fed to the feed roller and taker-in of the card. Each chute 11, as viewed in rear elevation in FIG. 1, is of trapeziform shape, the top being slightly wider than the bottom so that the chute tapers slightly towards the bottom.

Referring now to FIG. 3, each chute is formed by a back plate 12, two side plates one of which is shown in FIG. 3 and given the reference numeral 13, a top plate 14 formed integrally with the back plate 12, and a front plate 1S so mounted as to swing from its top edge about a pivot 16 at the front of the top plate 15, the swinging movement being imparted by a connecting rod 17 and crank mechanism 13 coupled to the bottom of the front plate 15 and driven by a motor 19. The back plate 12 eX- tends downwardly into proximity to the nip of a feed roller 2t) and feed plate 21 of the card, which are of couventional construction, and the chute 11 is secured to the framework of the card at its uppermost end at each side thereof by a link 22 extending from the front plate supporting pivot 16 to an erect frame member 23 fixedly mounted at its lowermost end to the card. The shape of the fixed back plate 12 and its disposition in relation to the front wall is such that the depth dimension of the cross-section of the chute reduces gradually to the exit end of the chute. The front plate 1S of the chute is made from transparent plastic material and is strengthened by metal side pieces 24 and ribs 25 and 26 extending between the side pieces 24. Access to the upper part of the chute may be obtained through an opening in the back plate 12, which is sealed by a cover 27 during normal operation of the chute.

Each side Wall 13 of the chute 11 is formed with an opening 2S of trapeziform shape, the front and rear edges of which lie generally parallel to the `front and back plates of the chute and converge in the direction of the base of the chute. The opening in one side wall, which serves as an inlet opening, is longer than the opening in the other side wall, which serves as an outlet opening, and the inlet opening is connected as shown in FIG. 4 to the exit of a supply duct 29 of the same cross-sectional shape as the opening 2S and of gradually increasing cross-section toward the exit of the duct, whilst the outlet opening is connected as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to an outlet duct 30 of the same cross-sectional shape and of gradually increasing cross-section, the duct serving as the fibresupply duct to the next chute.

As shown in FIG. 4, the supply duct 29 is provided with end flanges 31 and 32 which slidably engage behind angled strips 33 and 34 secured to the side wall 13 of the chute. As will be seen from FIG. 3, the angled strip 33 extends above the opening 28 and the angled strip 34 below it and a further angled strip 35 extends down the side wall in front of the opening 28, between the two strips 33 and 34. The duct 29` is secured to the chute 11 by sliding it across the side wall of the chute from the rear thereof, with the flanges 31 and 32 engaging behind the angled strips 33 and 34 until a position is reached in which a side flange on the end of the duct 29 and identical to the flanges 31 and 32 slides behind the angled strip 35 on the chute, in which position the trapeziform outlet opening in the duct 29 registers with the trapeziform opening 29 in the side wall 13 of the chute. The outlet opening on the other side wall of the chute is shorter than the opening 28, but the inlet end of the duct 30 is of a corresponding size and is secured to the side wall of the chute in the same manner as the outlet of the duct 29.

It will be seen from FIG. 1 that all the ducts 30 are of the same dimensions and in order to control the rate of ow of fibres through each chute an insert plate 36 may be interposed Vbetween the flanges on the duct and the side wall of the chute, the insert plate being provided with an opening 37 of the same shape as the Opening 28 and a reduced size to provide the desired rate of flow into or out of the chute.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the inlet opening of the chute 11 to the first card C1 is connected by the supply duct 29 to the outlet duct 38 of a fan 39 which draws fibres from a supply not shown and delivers them at high speed in an airstream to the duct 29. As shown, the outlet opening of the chute of each card except the last is connected to the inlet opening of the next chute by the duct 30, the duct 29 and each of the ducts 30 being arranged in a generally `horizontal disposition and increasing in cross-section gradually from the inlet end to the outlet end thereof. The outlet opening of the last chute is connected to an outlet duct 4) which serves to remove any surplus fibres remaining in the airstream.

In operation, fibrous material is fed in an airstream to the supply duct 29 and as a result of the gradually increasing cross-section of the duct 29 reduces in velocity in its passage through the duct. The air flow cross-section abruptly increases as the fibres enter the upper part of the chute 11 of the first card C1 and as a result there is a further reduction in fibre velocity, which is sufficient to allow fibres to be deposited in the feed chute 11, provided that the level of fibres in the chute 11 is below the bottom of the inlet opening. When the level of fibres, as indicated by the broken line in FIG. 1, tends to rise above the level of the inlet opening 2S there is a reduction in the cross-sectional area of the chute 11 available for the passage of the airstream and fibres are conveyed across the chute to the duct 3); The entrance to the duct 30, that is to say, the outlet opening in the other side wall of the chute 11 is smaller in cross-sectional area than the exit of the supply duct 29 or the cross-sectional area of the upper part of the chute and there is as a result an increase in velocity of the airstream as it enters the duct 30, which is suicient to bring the airstream up to a fibre conveying velocity. Fibres which are not deposited on entering the chute pass to the duct 30 and so to the next chute in the series which fills in the same manner, the excess fibres passing to subsequent chutes which are filled in similar manner to that previously described, the levels of the fibres collected in the chutes during filling being indicated by broken lines in FIG. 1. The upper part of each chute in line with the ducts is always clear of fibres other than those in the conveying airstream.

Fibres collected in the chute 11 are compacted by the action of the oscillating front plate 15 and advanced to the exit of the chute where they pass into the nip between the feed roller and the feed plate 21 and from this feecing arrangement in sheet form to the taker-in of the car It will be seen that the chute 11 is inclined forwardly and downwardly with the black plate 12 extending downwardly into proximity to the nip of the feed roller 20 and feed plate 21 of the card, and provision is made for adjusting the spacing between the end of the back plate and the nip by means of an adjusting lever 41 attached at one end to the back plate 12 and at the other end to a pin 42 eccentrically mounted on an end `Coller 43 fixed on 21 shaft 44 extending across the back of the chute and carry ing an arm 45 which can be angularly deliected to turn the shaft 44 and which can be locked in position by .1 clamping screw 45 which passes through an arcuate slot 47 in a fixed vertical plate 43. A link corresponding to the link 41 is provided on the other side of the chute and is arranged to be operated in the same manner as the link 41 by an eccentrically mounted pin carried on an end collar on the other end of the shaft 44.

In arrangements hitherto proposed vertical chutes have been employed for feeding the cards and it has been necessary to provide a horizontal lattice between feed rollers at the bottom of the chute and the card feed system. The chute 11, as hereinbefore described, is inclined downwardly and forwardly with the advantage that sufficient clearance is provided between the front of the chute and the card fiats and the need for a conveying lattice is obviated.

It will be seen in FIG. 3 that the lower end of the front plate 15 is provided with a fiexible sealing strip 49 which rides over the feed roller 20, and a further sealing member 50 is attached to the lower end of each Side plate 13. -In addition, each side wall of the chute, as illustrated in FIG. 5, is provided along its front edge with a sealing strip 51, the arrangement of the sealing strips 49 and 51 and sealing members Stl being such as to prevent loss of air from the chute.

In arrangements hitherto proposed for feeding fibres in an airstream to a series of cards a circulating duct has been provided with branch ducts leading into the tops or the chutes associated with the cards and it will be appreciated that the fibre feeding arrangement hereinbefore described allows for a reduction in the headroom required as the chutes are part of the circulating duct and not branches from the duct.

Fibrous material from the usual opening and cleaning line may be fed to a hopper feeder supplying a Kirschner beater the output of which is drawn by the fan 39 and delivered into the supply duct 29 to the first chute 11. surplus fibres from the chute 11 of the last card C6 being returned in the airstream to the yfront hopper of the hopper feeder, as described in our British patent application No. 2,131/ 66. Air is taken from the hopper into the inlet of the fan 39 or may be taken to a dust chamber by another fan.

A control over the airstream velocity at the inlet and outlet openings of the chutes is provided by the insert plates 36 in the arrangement hereinbefore described. lf desired, however, the size of the connecting ducts may be gradually reduced between each consecutive pair of chutes with corresponding reductions in the chute inlet and outlet openings to maintain the air speed the same at each card position and thereby compensate for air losses which may occur at each card chute.

Provision may with advantage be made yfor varying the amplitude of oscillation of the front wall of the chute.

Certain novel features of the chute are disclosed ano claimed in copending application Ser. No. 631,973, filed Apr. 19, 1967.

What is claimed is:

'1. A feeding arrangement for a series of cards comprising a card chute for each card for feeding fibrous material to the takerin in sheet form, each chute having a back wall and a front wall, the width of the back wall and front wall being approximately equal to the width of the fibrous sheet to be fed to the card, an enclosing top surface to the chute, delivery means for the fibrous sheet at the bottom of the chute, side walls formin-g the sides of the chute, and means for supplying fibrous material in an airstream, one of said side walls being provided with an inlet opening for the airstream and the opposite wall being provided with an outlet opening for the outward passage of the airstream from the chute, said supplying means including a feed duct connected to the inlet opening of the rst chtite, a connecting duct connecting the outlet opening in each card chute except the last in the series to the inlet opening in the next card chute in the series and an outlet duct connected to the outlet opening in the last card chute, each said inlet opening being larger than the outlet opening of the same chute, and each chute having an unobstructed interior adapted to receive a deposit of bres substantially up to the level of the bottom edge of the lower of said openings.

2. A feeding arrangement according to claim 1 in which the chute inlet and outlet openings are of trapeziform shape and wherein said connecting ducts are trapeziorm in cross-section corresponding to the shape of the inlet and outlet openings.

3. A feeding arrangement according to claim 1 or 2 in which the crossseetion of each connecting duct increases gradually throughout at least a portion of its length.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 506,771 10/1893 Davis 302-28 3,145,426 S/1964 Hijiya et al. 302-28 3,157,440 11/1964 Hijiya et al. 302-28 3,210,128 10/1965 Morkawa et al. 302-28 ANDRES H. NTELSEN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

